The Lakers’ Kobe Bryant had waged a back-and-forth, point-for-point war with the Nets’ Stephon Marbury all night. Marbury won the statistical battle, but in the end it was Bryant that won the war – and the game, 113-110 in overtime.

Marbury went off for a career-high 50 points, including back-to-back 3-pointers to send the game into extra time and send the sellout crowd of 20,049 into a frenzy. But it was Bryant that scored the game-winner, a conventional three-point play with 4.8 seconds left in OT.

With the score tied at 110, Bryant got a high pick from Shaquille O’Neal, with whom he’s feuded on several occasions. He beat Aaron Williams and drove down the lane and hit a driving layup as Kenyon Martin bumped him, with the ball rolling around on the rim and dropping in. Kobe then hit the free throw for the final margin.

“I think [someone] came and stepped out too far. Fortunately, I found a hole. I wanted to tomahawk it, but they grabbed me,” said Bryant, who finished with 38 points on 14-of-25 shooting. He also added eight rebounds and five assists.

Bryant lost the scoring battle to Marbury, whom he, Tryonn Lue and Ron Harper had all failed to guard successfully. But Bryant had nearly carried the Lakers down the stretch by himself. He scored 13 points in the fourth quarter alone, and after the Lakers had blown a 12-point lead with 4:29 to play in regulation, it was Bryant’s final basket that saved them from an embarrassing defeat.

“We would feel bad about this game [had we lost],” Bryant said. “But all the top teams in the league came back [from the All-Star break] and had tough games, grind-it-out type games, so we don’t feel bad about it.”